Frontier Airlines’ Sweetheart Deal With Priceline a Boon to Flyers With Baggage

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Frontier may have discovered that its attempt to get more direct purchases wasn’t worth lost business from customers turned off by the $100 baggage charge, or it may hope to score popularity points by bucking the extra-fees trend. Either way, this is a win for Priceline, which now boasts one more reason to book through its site instead of the airline’s.

Frontier Airlines announced Wednesday that it would stop charging carry-on fees for customers who buy its tickets through the discount travel website Priceline.com.

Frontier is one of the ultra-low-cost airlines that has “unbundled” services in order to charge additional fees if passengers want to reserve anything more than the space to sit. It charges for seat upgrades, seat reservations, name changes, drinks both alcoholic and virgin, and more.

Frontier’s charge for carry-on baggage existed only for customers who bought tickets through third-party sites like Priceline.com, as per a policy Frontier announced in April of this year. But that changed today, as Priceline.com announced it will start selling Frontier Airlines’s cheapest fares with the free carry-on usually reserved for direct purchases through FlyFrontier.com.

The a la carte fees are part of a trend among budget airlines, which claim the unbundling allows them to reduce the price of their basic tickets.